The state BSNL will use around Rs. 53,000 crore for upgrading the network to 4G and 5G this year, as well as overhauling the fixed-line network across the country, Union Minister for IT and Telecoms Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
The government has announced a capital injection of Rs. 52,937 crore in BSNL in the next financial year starting on April 1, 2023.
Speaking on the 2023-24 budget, the minister said BSNL’s capital injection is part of the Rs. 1.64 lakh crore revitalization package announced last year and most of BSNL’s balance sheet items have already been addressed.
“BSNL has raised new debt using the government guarantees announced in the package. Now the physical installation of new towers begins, upgrading 2G, 3G to 4G and 5G and a major overhaul of the landline systems of the MTNL and BSNL network will be included this year using capital allocation of Rs. 53,000 crore made for BSNL,” Vaishnaw said.
The government has allocated Rs. 1.23 lakh crore for post and telecom projects. The total allocation is Rs. 97,579.05 million for the Telecommunications Department and Rs. 25,814 crore for postal projects.
The government has allocated Rs. 2,158 crore for a fiber optic cable-based network for defense services and Rs. 715.8 million for telecommunications projects in the north-eastern states.
In her speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the establishment of 100 laboratories for the development of applications with 5G services in engineering institutes.
In the revenue budget for 2023-24, the government has raised estimates for non-tax revenue collection from the telecom sector by 30 per cent to Rs. 89,469.17 million.
‘Revenue recognition in telecoms is consistent. Telecoms is a future industry today and this is reflected in the higher revenue recognition that has been budgeted for,’ said the minister.
The government has revised the revenue estimate to Rs. 68,784 crore for the current financial year from the earlier projection of Rs. 52,806 crore in the previous budget.
Actual government revenue in 2021-22 was Rs. 85,828 crore.
The tax-free revenues from the communications sector relate mainly to license fees from telecom operators and revenues from spectrum usage fees. 25,814 crore allocated to the Post Ministry includes a Rs. 250 crore capital injection into the India Post Payments Bank.
